University City Greenhouse Gas Inventory

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The completion of this Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory marks the accomplishment of the GPC’s first goal to quantitatively assess the city’s current and future environmental performance. The baseline data provided in this report will allow the City to begin to make changes and measure its success. City of University City 20102011 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory The first step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing a more sustainable community is to identify baseline levels and sources of emissions. In concordance with ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection Milestone Guide (CCP), “the first milestone is to conduct a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis: Baseline Inventory and Forecast.” vi The emissions baseline and forecast provides an important “benchmark” as well as the insight necessary for niversity City to fulfill the goals set forth in its strategic plan for sustainability. U Methodsiv ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection assists local governments in systematically tracking energy and waste related activities within their jurisdiction, and in calculating the relative quantities of greenhouse gases produced by each activity and sector. The greenhouse gas inventory protocol involves performing two assessments: a community wide assessment and a separate inventory of municipal facilities and activities. The municipal inventory is a subset of the community inventory. CACP Softwareiv To facilitate community efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ICLEI developed the Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) software package in partnership with the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators (STAPPA), the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO), and Torrie Smith Associates. This software calculates emissions resulting from energy consumption and waste generation. The CACP software determines emissions using specific factors (or coefficients) according to the type of fuel used. CACP aggregates and reports the three main greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, and N2O) in terms of equivalent carbon dioxide units, or CO2e. Converting all emissions to equivalent carbon dioxide units allows for consideration of different greenhouse gases in comparable terms. For example, methane is twenty-one times more powerful than carbon dioxide on a per weight basis in its capacity to trap heat, so the CACP software converts one metric ton of methane emissions to 21 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. The CACP software is also capable of reporting input and output data in several formats, including detailed, aggregate, source-based, and time- series reports. 2010-2011 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, City of University City, MO 12 The emissions coefficients and quantification method employed by the CACP software are consistent with national and international inventory standards established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1996 Revised IPCC Guidelines for the Preparation